HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTW) — Gov. Tom Corbett signed off on a state grant
this week for the Arlen Specter library that he singled out during his
gubernatorial campaign as an example of wasteful spending after
determining he lacked legal grounds to reverse the commitment, a
spokesman said.
The approval of the nearly $2 million grant for the Arlen Specter
Center for Political Science and International Relations at
Philadelphia University was originally made in 2010 by Corbett's
predecessor, Ed Rendell, and it comes as Corbett moves to scale back a
$4 billion borrowing program.
The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program matches financial
commitments for civic development projects and was greatly expanded
under Rendell as a revitalization engine. A spokesman for Corbett,
Kevin Harley, said the Specter library grant is the last of the
Rendell-pledged projects under the borrowing program.
"This was thoroughly reviewed for a very long time by administration
lawyers to see if there was any reason why the project could not be
approved," Harley said.
Harley said it wasn't the kind of project Corbett wanted to fund,
particularly in difficult fiscal times for the state government.
Rendell had defended the Specter library and other projects financed
by the program as critical to revitalizing struggling communities and
improving civic cornerstones, such as hospitals and universities.
Corbett has not committed to any new projects under the program since
he became governor last year, Harley said, and he is now talking with
lawmakers about shrinking the program's debt limit down to $1.5
billion.
The ceiling was $1.45 billion when Rendell became governor in 2003,
and he gradually increased it, with approval from the Legislature, to
$4.05 billion. Faced with the state's fourth-straight projected budget
deficit, the Corbett administration is trying to control debt costs in
other areas, and plans to seek the Legislature's approval to put a one-
year moratorium on accepting new school construction projects into a
reimbursement program.
On Monday, Corbett's budget secretary Charles Zogby wrote to the
president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., a pass-
through agency for the money to the Specter center, that the governor
has approved the grant and an agreement "should be fully executed in
the very near term."
Specter, a Republican-turned-Democrat who was a mentor to Rendell, was
defeated in 2010 in a bid for a sixth U.S. Senate term.
Philadelphia University said the center will educate and inform
policymakers, citizens, scholars and students through classes, public
lectures, research and outreach programs.
The university has Specter's archive of manuscripts, memorabilia and
other materials from his career in public office, which stretches back
to the 1960s when he was Philadelphia's elected district attorney.
Before that, he was an assistant district attorney who investigated
the Teamsters union and served as a staff lawyer on the Warren
Commission investigating the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy.
"The Center will further scholarship and understanding of some of the
most important historical events of our time for generations to come,"
Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli Jr. said in a
statement.
(END QUOTE)
Best Regards in Research,
Don
Donald Roberdeau
U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, plank walker
Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly
Dealey Plaza Map Detailing 11-22-63 Victims precise locations,
Evidence, Witnesses, Films & Photos, Suspected bullet trajectories,
Important information & Key Considerations, in One Convenient
Resource.... http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2192/dpupdated110110.gif
> Corbett OKs Specter library grant that he bashed
> By Marc Levy, Associated Press
> HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTW) — Gov. Tom Corbett signed off on a state grant
> this week for the Arlen Specter library that he singled out during his
> gubernatorial campaign as an example of wasteful spending after
> determining he lacked legal grounds to reverse the commitment, a
> spokesman said.
> The approval of the nearly $2 million grant for the Arlen Specter
> Center for Political Science and International Relations at
> Philadelphia University was originally made in 2010 by Corbett's
> predecessor, Ed Rendell, and it comes as Corbett moves to scale back a
> $4 billion borrowing program.
> The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program matches financial
> commitments for civic development projects and was greatly expanded
> under Rendell as a revitalization engine. A spokesman for Corbett,
> Kevin Harley, said the Specter library grant is the last of the
> Rendell-pledged projects under the borrowing program.
> "This was thoroughly reviewed for a very long time by administration
> lawyers to see if there was any reason why the project could not be
> approved," Harley said.
> Harley said it wasn't the kind of project Corbett wanted to fund,
> particularly in difficult fiscal times for the state government.
> Rendell had defended the Specter library and other projects financed
> by the program as critical to revitalizing struggling communities and
> improving civic cornerstones, such as hospitals and universities.
> Corbett has not committed to any new projects under the program since
> he became governor last year, Harley said, and he is now talking with
> lawmakers about shrinking the program's debt limit down to $1.5
> billion.
> The ceiling was $1.45 billion when Rendell became governor in 2003,
> and he gradually increased it, with approval from the Legislature, to
> $4.05 billion. Faced with the state's fourth-straight projected budget
> deficit, the Corbett administration is trying to control debt costs in
> other areas, and plans to seek the Legislature's approval to put a one-
> year moratorium on accepting new school construction projects into a
> reimbursement program.
> On Monday, Corbett's budget secretary Charles Zogby wrote to the
> president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., a pass-
> through agency for the money to the Specter center, that the governor
> has approved the grant and an agreement "should be fully executed in
> the very near term."
> Specter, a Republican-turned-Democrat who was a mentor to Rendell, was
> defeated in 2010 in a bid for a sixth U.S. Senate term.
> Philadelphia University said the center will educate and inform
> policymakers, citizens, scholars and students through classes, public
> lectures, research and outreach programs.
> The university has Specter's archive of manuscripts, memorabilia and
> other materials from his career in public office, which stretches back
> to the 1960s when he was Philadelphia's elected district attorney.
> Before that, he was an assistant district attorney who investigated
> the Teamsters union and served as a staff lawyer on the Warren
> Commission investigating the assassination of President John F.
> Kennedy.
> "The Center will further scholarship and understanding of some of the
> most important historical events of our time for generations to come,"
> Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli Jr. said in a
> statement.
> (END QUOTE)
> Best Regards in Research,
> Don
> Donald Roberdeau
> U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, plank walker
> Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly
> Dealey Plaza Map Detailing 11-22-63 Victims precise locations,
> Evidence, Witnesses, Films & Photos, Suspected bullet trajectories,
> Important information & Key Considerations, in One Convenient
> Resource....http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2192/dpupdated110110.gif
What politicians don't seem to grasp is that all these pork barrel projects intended to stimulate the economy and job growth is money that is taken from the private sector that can't be used to stimulate the economy and job growth. It doesn't matter whether it is done at the federal, state, or local level or whether it is paid for through taxation, borrowing, or printing money, the net effect is the same. More government spending means less private enterprise.
>> Corbett OKs Specter library grant that he bashed
>> By Marc Levy, Associated Press
>> HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTW) ? Gov. Tom Corbett signed off on a state grant
>> this week for the Arlen Specter library that he singled out during his
>> gubernatorial campaign as an example of wasteful spending after
>> determining he lacked legal grounds to reverse the commitment, a
>> spokesman said.
>> The approval of the nearly $2 million grant for the Arlen Specter
>> Center for Political Science and International Relations at
>> Philadelphia University was originally made in 2010 by Corbett's
>> predecessor, Ed Rendell, and it comes as Corbett moves to scale back a
>> $4 billion borrowing program.
>> The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program matches financial
>> commitments for civic development projects and was greatly expanded
>> under Rendell as a revitalization engine. A spokesman for Corbett,
>> Kevin Harley, said the Specter library grant is the last of the
>> Rendell-pledged projects under the borrowing program.
>> "This was thoroughly reviewed for a very long time by administration
>> lawyers to see if there was any reason why the project could not be
>> approved," Harley said.
>> Harley said it wasn't the kind of project Corbett wanted to fund,
>> particularly in difficult fiscal times for the state government.
>> Rendell had defended the Specter library and other projects financed
>> by the program as critical to revitalizing struggling communities and
>> improving civic cornerstones, such as hospitals and universities.
>> Corbett has not committed to any new projects under the program since
>> he became governor last year, Harley said, and he is now talking with
>> lawmakers about shrinking the program's debt limit down to $1.5
>> billion.
>> The ceiling was $1.45 billion when Rendell became governor in 2003,
>> and he gradually increased it, with approval from the Legislature, to
>> $4.05 billion. Faced with the state's fourth-straight projected budget
>> deficit, the Corbett administration is trying to control debt costs in
>> other areas, and plans to seek the Legislature's approval to put a one-
>> year moratorium on accepting new school construction projects into a
>> reimbursement program.
>> On Monday, Corbett's budget secretary Charles Zogby wrote to the
>> president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., a pass-
>> through agency for the money to the Specter center, that the governor
>> has approved the grant and an agreement "should be fully executed in
>> the very near term."
>> Specter, a Republican-turned-Democrat who was a mentor to Rendell, was
>> defeated in 2010 in a bid for a sixth U.S. Senate term.
>> Philadelphia University said the center will educate and inform
>> policymakers, citizens, scholars and students through classes, public
>> lectures, research and outreach programs.
>> The university has Specter's archive of manuscripts, memorabilia and
>> other materials from his career in public office, which stretches back
>> to the 1960s when he was Philadelphia's elected district attorney.
>> Before that, he was an assistant district attorney who investigated
>> the Teamsters union and served as a staff lawyer on the Warren
>> Commission investigating the assassination of President John F.
>> Kennedy.
>> "The Center will further scholarship and understanding of some of the
>> most important historical events of our time for generations to come,"
>> Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli Jr. said in a
>> statement.
>> (END QUOTE)
>> Best Regards in Research,
>> Don
>> Donald Roberdeau
>> U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, plank walker
>> Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly
> What politicians don't seem to grasp is that all these pork barrel
> projects intended to stimulate the economy and job growth is money that is
> taken from the private sector that can't be used to stimulate the economy
> and job growth. It doesn't matter whether it is done at the federal,
> state, or local level or whether it is paid for through taxation,
> borrowing, or printing money, the net effect is the same. More government
> spending means less private enterprise.
What you don't seem to grasp is that the local politicians get a slice of the project money. They can rant and rail all they want, but when they see that they'll get their percentage they suddenly go silent. We have the same thing here with Walmart. The local politicians are speaking out against it. That's because they have been offered only 1%. When the percentage goes up to %3 they'll suddenly claim that it will produce millions of jobs.
